Pride at Work Reacts to Secretary of Labor Nomination

Washington – In another case of putting the fox in charge of the chicken coop, today Donald Trump named Andrew Puzder as the Secretary of Labor for his Administration. Puzder is the CEO of CKE restaurants, which owns the Hardees and Carl’s Jr. fast food chains. He is strongly opposed to any increases in the minimum wage and wants to see the Affordable Care Act repealed. Pride at Work Executive Director, Jerame Davis, issued the following reaction to Puzder’s nomination to head the Department of Labor:

“Andrew Puzder’s nomination to become the Secretary of Labor is a slap in the face to every working person in America. Here we have a man who makes over a million dollars a year in base salary, but he thinks the minimum wage is too high. Just to prove how out of touch he is with average working people, he also opposes the Affordable Care Act, which has insured over 20 million people – many of whom likely work for Pudzer’s company.

“LGBTQ working people should also be concerned because Puzder was a member of the GOP platform committee that produced the most anti-LGBTQ platform by any major political party in history. When asked about the anti-LGBTQ planks by The Hill, Puzder said, ‘However, we do support nondiscrimination.’ Where that made it into the platform is still an open question.

“Even if Donald Trump decides not to repeal President Obama’s executive order barring LGBTQ discrimination among federal contractors, there is little hope that Puzder will enforce it. It’s beyond frightening that every single person Trump has put forward as a nominee for his Administration is staunchly anti-LGBTQ.

“Puzder’s views on women aren’t exactly stellar, either. When asked about his company’s racy, sexist ads, he told Entrepreneur magazine, ‘I like beautiful women eating burgers in bikinis. I think it’s very American.’ Such a flippant response is unbecoming of someone who will be charged with protecting the rights of the American workforce, half of which are women.

“Every working American will suffer under a Labor Department that is derelict in its duties. There is no reason to believe Puzder or Trump will lift a finger to protect the rights of working people. This Administration is quickly shaping up to be one of the most anti-labor governments we’ve encountered. We call upon the Senate to reject the Puzder nomination and to carefully vet every nominee put forth by president-elect Trump.”

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Pride At Work organizes mutual support between the organized Labor Movement and the LGBTQ Community for social and economic justice. We seek full equality for LGBTQ Workers in our workplaces and unions and we organize in the spirit of the union movement’s historic motto, “An Injury to One is An Injury to All.” Learn more at www.prideatwork.org